As you may have gathered from my last post, our trip to Naples was an absolute foodie delight.
It's a very...frenetic city, and I wasn't sure when we first arrived how much I would actually like it. The taxi drive from the airport, for example, was somewhat terrifying. Actually, every time we got in a taxi it was frankly terrifying. The narrow streets are teeming with people (and the odd rogue moped) and shop spill their wares outside onto the already narrow pavements meaning you can never actually walk in a straight line. Which is good for the old step count.
The longer we stayed though, the more we fell into the city's rhythm. And the fact that around every corner there was a new venue wherein one could enjoy an Aperol spritz helps as well - the edge gets taken off pretty quickly.
We also ventured outside of Naples itself - including a trip to Sorrento and a visit to a wonderful restaurant up in the hills outside the city. Villa Rosa di Nonna Rosa is a mission to reach but, sitting on the terrace overlooking the Mediterranean and eating the most glorious, rustic Italian food, one can almost forget the fact that so many taxi drivers refused to take us (their vehicles being too large for the narrow, winding mountain roads) that we almost didn't make it.
How's this for a lunchtime view:
It is a set menu - you get what you're given. And their is no wine list, just a choice of house red or house white - however, they do let you bring your own and do not charge corkage.
We started with something called "aria fritta" which was a sort of fried, upside down pizza.
It was gorgeous, albeit rich - one would comfortably have served two people. Then they started bringing the antipasti out and we began to suspect that the kitchen was trying to kill us.
This is just a sample of the spread they provided! There was nothing really fancy or cheffy going on here, just amazing produce that tasted of sunshine and had been treated with the utmost respect. But, if I had to make a (very mild) criticism. there was a LOT of food and we still had pasta, a main course and a dessert to go (all of which were similarly delicious).
I just loved how unpretentious this was. The main course was, literally, pork and chips. And it was heaven! The meat was tender, the potatoes salty and the sauce was the most delicious, savoury gravy.
And all good meals should end with doughnuts.
I can't imagine that this is an experience we will ever have again but I am incredibly glad we got the opportunity to go while we were there and, if you find yourself in Sorrento, can locate a friendly taxi driver and are willing to screw your courage to the sticking point, then I would most certainly recommend.
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